SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
UC Santa Barbara is set to host the Bite/Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Tournament at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc, Calif., on Monday and Tuesday, April 5-6. The tournament will be 54 holes, 36 on the first day and 18 on day two.

The Bite/Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Tournament is returning to La Purisima Golf Course for the first time in two years and Gaucho head coach Steve Lass is excited about it.

"La Purisima is a great course," he noted. "Not only is it a beautiful setting, but it is extremely challenging. I am very excited about holding the tournament there and I think it is a great opportunity."

In addition to UCSB, the tournament field will include Big West Conference rivals UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Pacific and Utah State. The remainder of the 18-team field includes a Pac Ten school (Washington State), four programs from the Western Athletic Conference (Hawaii, Nevada, San Jose State and New Mexico State), two from the Mountain West Conference (Utah and Wyoming), three from the West Coast Conference (St. Mary's, Santa Clara and San Diego) and one NCAA Division II power (UC Davis).

The 18-team field will play a practice round on Sunday, April 4. The 36 holes on Monday, April 5 will have an 8:00 a.m. shotgun start. The final 18 holes on Tuesday, April 6 will also have an 8:00 a.m. shotgun start. La Purisima Golf Course is a 7,105 yard, par 72 course. It played host to the 1997 PGA Tour School Finals.

In 2003, the Bite/Pacific Coast Intercollegiate was played at Sandpiper Golf Course in Santa Barbara. The 2003 team title was won by Fresno State and the individual champion was Bulldog All-American Nick Watney. Fresno State shot an 841 to edge UC Irvine by two shots while Watney shot a 17-under par 199 to win by nine shots. Past individual champions have included Craig Stadler (1973), Scott Simpson (1977) and Duffy Waldorf (1985).